Listen to an interview with Hillsborough Emergency Management Director Timothy Dudley:
TAMPA -- Local agencies in the Tampa Bay area are making final preparations for Elsa's approach to the Tampa Bay area.
Five Bay area counties, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Hardee, Manatee and Polk, are under a tornado watch until 11 p.m. Tuesday. A hurricane warning is posted from Egmont Key (mouth of Tampa Bay) north to near Perry in north Florida.
In Pinellas County, officials are urging residents to be ready for a three to five foot storm surge at the beach.
Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri says he plans to keep deputies on the streets overnight, but that is subject to change. Right now Pinellas beaches are expected to experience winds no higher than 50-55 mph overnight. If winds go higher, that may lead to deputies seeking shelter until the winds pass.
Gualtieri says access to beach communities will be restricted between 6 p.m. Tuesday and 7 a.m. Wednesday. To cross the causeways, drivers will be required to show that they live, work, or own property at the beach, or are staying at a beach hotel, or have some other sort of business on the beach.
Pinellas is opening two shelters, at Ross Norman Recreation Center in Clearwater and the Lealman Exchange, located between Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg. PSTA is giving free rides to those shelters but will suspend service at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
In Hillsborough County, one shelter is open at Riverview High School on Boyette Road. Neither Pinellas nor Hillsborough have issued mandatory evacuations.
HART (public transit) will stop service at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Tampa International Airport will close to passenger traffic at 5 p.m. and cargo at 10 p.m. Tuesday.
Hillsborough Emergency Management Director Timothy Dudley says crews will be ready to take to the streets to address trees and other debris in the roadways, which may be reported via the county website.
Photo: Canva